'She kept me still seconds 30': the actress from Belarus died in Alaska during the honeymoon trip

The death of 24-year-old Belarusian actress Nika Nikonova shook the social network. The girl, known for one of the leading roles in the movie “Brest Fortress”, drowned in Alaska on her honeymoon, went along with her husband in the footsteps of the famous American traveler Super Streak, who died in the same places in the summer of 1992.

The elect of Niki became an activist from Belarus, Peter Markelov. The wedding young people played the first of July this year and immediately rushed to Alaska, writes KP. The correspondent managed to contact the young man - he revealed the details of the terrible incident on the river, when he lost his wife in twenty minutes. Here is his story.

— We were driving from Fairbanks, we wanted to take the trail to Mount Healy. We caught a car, and the conversation turned to this bus (meaning bus number 142, in which extreme sportsman Alexander Supertramp spent his last days, whose route the couple wanted to repeat, read about it below - editor's note). We really wanted to get there, but we knew that at this time the river was very difficult or impossible to cross. The man who gave us a lift said that it had not rained for a long time, and this could be done. We decided to go to the Stampede Trail, which leads to the bus (Stampede Trail is a dangerous trail on which the bus is located, where Supertramp lived and suffered - editor's note).

For the first day we did not reach. We spent the night halfway, the river was not crossed that day. The next day, got to the bus. The river was smaller than July 25 (because there was no rain). I was the first to go, not tired. When Nika passed, she said that she was tired, that at some point she thought that she could not hold the rope with her hands, which was stretched across the river. She then also used an additional rope, which, as we thought, could help as insurance in case Nika comes off the main rope.

We spent two nights on the bus. We didn't calculate the food, so we ate what was on the bus. We left a sign there - we scratched out “Piotr & Nika, Just Married, 07/19.” And they left entries in the diary: me on the first day, Nika right before leaving.

Photo: frame from the film “Brest Fortress”, YouTube / TV channel TPO

Reached the river quickly, without stopping. They sat on a log near the transition to smoke. They joked that this could be our last cigarette. Then I took out my phone and took a few selfies on me and Nika. I left her phone for her to shoot as I cross the river. Last time I fotkal her. We put all valuables in a waterproof bag, with which she was walking (he then sailed away with the flow).

I switched and felt very tired. I was scared. I understood that if I was tired, Nick would get more tired. It was hard to hear across the river. I had doubts about whether I had to tie a rope like Nick had done. We talked about this, but no one was sure how best. Nick tied a rope around the waist several times, the other end with a carabiner, like the last time, tied to the main rope. And she went.

On the 2 / 5 path, she began to ask for help. For her, the water was probably even above the waist, almost to the chest. Perhaps she began to ask for help when her legs broke away from the bottom ... After the legs come off, it is difficult to grope the bottom and regain balance.

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I went to her, holding the main rope thrown across the river. When I approached, her hands broke away from this rope, and she hung on a safety net. She was on the water. I began to jerk dragging the carbine. It turned out to drag her a couple of meters. But when I turned around again, she was under water. This was really scary. With all my strength, I began to push the safety rope towards the shore. Somewhere on the 3 / 5 path, I myself broke off, trying to find Nikina's head to get her to the surface. But Nick had a rope and a backpack, all wet and heavy. I held on to her backpack, felt how, being under water, she held 30 for even seconds. But then she let go, I realized that she had lost consciousness. I dragged her to the shore, then returned to the main rope and continued to drag. But it took too much time.

She was under water for about five minutes. It turned out to pull her head to the shore, but then a few more minutes passed, until I finally pulled her out of the stream. I made a couple of visits of artificial respiration and heart massage. I realized that you need to remove the backpack and untie the rope. Already on the shore about 20 minutes I repeated the procedure: I did a heart massage, then breathed air into the lungs. The water was inside. Her legs and arms were cold.

I covered her with a sleeping bag and a tent, put stones in the corners, left things, took a spray from the bears, some water and went further along the trail. It was about 4 hours, 20 kilometers. Stopped the car already on Stampede Road (which goes to Stampede Trail), called 911. Half an hour later the rangers arrived. We drove to the beginning of the trail by car. They waited for the ATVs to arrive. Three quad bikes arrived and we drove into place. We drove for a very long time, the whole trail was in mud and water, on a halfway road one car completely died out and we left it. By 5 or 6 in the morning we got there.

The body was sent to Funeral Home, will conduct an autopsy. They said that next week on Tuesday-Wednesday they will get in touch, says husband Nicky.

Now the young man is in America. According to him, cards, phones and documents drowned in the river... It’s sad that our actress became another victim of the “McCandless phenomenon.” This is what experts call the unstoppable pilgrimage of young people to Alaska, on the now famous Christopher McCandless bus. (We could call a similar effect the “Dyatlov Pass” effect, where adrenaline hunters try to get to after the death of a tour group).

As the famous Alaska ranger Peter Christian said, every visit here is akin to madness: “This is a desert where the possibility of rescue and evacuation is practically impossible.”

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Olga, Nika’s mother, who lives in Minsk, is trying to find money for a flight to America. There is no question of bringing the body to Belarus; it is too expensive. But before cremation, Olga Nikonova would like to see her daughter again. (Those who wish to help financially can do so here).

“I felt like something was wrong. But Nika has been like this since she was seventeen. She didn’t have enough of everything that surrounded her: little adrenaline, little life, she took everything she could. I went to Alaska for romance...”, my mother admitted in an exclusive interview kp.ru.

The Story of the Superboy

Relatives and friends do not hide that Nick was following in the footsteps of the American survivor Christopher McCandless, known as Alexander Superbrooman, writes KP. In the nineties, a young man from a wealthy family gave up everything and devoted himself to hitchhiking. The final point of his journey was Alaska. In the summer of 1992, taking with him only a small supply of food, Alexander settled in a sparsely populated part of the state. He lived in a XNUMX bus that was found on the river bank. But when he finally decided to return to the people, he could not do it, because the flooded river cut off the way back. Four months later, Alexander died of exhaustion.

Superbrook's corpse, lying in a sleeping bag on the bus, found help coming late. However, this sad story has become widely known thanks to directors and writers. In 1996, the book “Into the Wild”, written by John Krakauer, was published about Alexander’s life. Pretty soon, the book became an international bestseller and was included in the curricula of many American schools. In 2007, the bestselling theme was the dramatic film of Sean Penn "Into the Wild." The film was nominated for several Oscars, received a Golden Globe, and was recognized by American critics of one of the top ten 2007 films of the year. Ironically, the lost Nika Nikonova repeated the fate of Superbroobs.

Twenty-seven years ago, in the diary of Superbroobs, found after his death, rescuers found several lines from a poem by American poet Robert Jeffers.

Yes, death bites us all; but die

Having time to create something co-operative,

Than flesh and blood doesn’t just reset

Is everything weak?

Maybe the poet was right. But I think that Nick, because of her youth, simply did not have time to create what she wanted. However, there is no doubt: the death of a young girl will only increase the flow of people willing to visit the famous bus.

Alaska Rescuer: "Recognize Your Limits"

To get to the bus, which the newlyweds were striving for, you need to go deep into the forest by about 50 km and walk along a dangerous walking path. The McCandless vehicle has become a kind of pilgrimage site for many people who were inspired by the story of the deceased traveler. However, many tourists who are trying to get to the bus, die.

So, in 2010, during the passage of the same river, the 29-year-old Swedish citizen died, and in 2013, the rescue team on helicopters twice had to assist groups of tourists who tried to reach the ill-fated bus.

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In 2016, two American travelers were rescued there, who were nearly washed away by the river, and in 2017, the 42-year-old resident of Belgium was unable to cross the river to the safe side. The representative of the local search and rescue services Ken Marsh stressed that adventure seekers should be especially careful on this route, writes Газета.ру.

“The nature of Alaska is vast and merciless. There are weather conditions that people should remember, geographic features, water conditions, wild fauna. We want people to come to us and enjoy what Alaska has to offer, but remember the need for preparation and realize the limits of their capabilities. If the water level in the river rises or falls, know that you had better retreat, ”he noted.

Veronika Nikonova was born in Minsk in 1994. She starred in Alexander Kott's film "Brest Fortress" as the daughter of Lieutenant Kizhevatov, who was shot by the Nazis at the age of 13. Having made a brilliant debut in a blockbuster, she decided not to continue her career as an actress. Without any special means, with only one backpack on her shoulders, she traveled all over the world. Having once seen surfers on TV, I was inspired by the idea of ​​learning how to do the same - and went to Bali, spending three years there. She learned Indonesian and worked in real estate sales.

“I’m bored in one place, it’s like I’m hooked on something new,” she said in an interview.

Recently, Nika lived in New York, where she studied for a documentary filmmaker. Her graduation work was the film "Generation 328" dedicated to the problem of people convicted of drugs. As admitted in one of the last interviews, she would like to become a war correspondent and shoot stories in hot spots.

“I want to be on the stage of what is happening, and not in the audience. But I’m still at the very beginning of my journey and I have a lot to learn,” the girl said.

Unfortunately, this path was too short.

“Nika was in a hurry to live. She was a little director, little acting. Without special funds, she nevertheless found opportunities to travel around the world for very little money, to discover new things, ”her friends told the site. kp.ru.

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